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Not Just for Kids

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When the full moon rises on the night of his seventh birthday, strange things begin to happen to shy little Alfie: he suddenly grows sharp claws and white fuzzy hair, and begins to howl at the moon. Alfie soon realizes he is no longer a regular kid — he has turned into a werewolf! Only his brother Timmie knows, but with Alfie attacking his neighbour’s chickens and biting a bully in the leg, it won’t be long until his secret is revealed. Alfie just wants to be an ordinary boy again, but with the help of his loving family and a mysterious, hairy stranger, he may learn that what makes each person different is also what makes them special. The film is based on a series of popular children's books by Dutch author Paul Van Loon.

R2R is thrilled to present this extraordinary new film from the producers of Kirikou and the Sorceress, Triplets of Belleville and The Secret of Kells.

"Based on the popular children’s books by Belgian author Gabrielle Vincent, this ex-quisitely crafted animated film tells the tale of an unlikely friendship that spans worlds and species, and recreates the picture books’ lush and expressive watercolour illustrations.

Gattu is an orphan who works at his guardian's scrap yard in a small Indian town. Though he's small in stature, Gattu has big ambitions - namely, defeating the mysterious black kite Kali, which dominates the sky above his kite-obsessed community. Needing to reach higher ground so that his kite can go head-to-head with Kali, Gattu impersonates a student at the local school so that he can gain access to its rooftop. Yet Gattu's determination to take down Kali will lead him to make other discoveries, to find new friends, and realize that what happens in the classroom can be just as wondrous as anything happening in the skies.

Kauwboy is a tender portrait of a boy struggling to come to terms with a family that’s not what it once was. With his country-singer mother absent, Jojo lives alone with his security guard father, a man of few words, who is quick to anger and has seemingly no affection for his 10-year-old son. Left to his own devices, Jojo finds an abandoned baby crow in the woods near their house – and finds solace in caring for this small creature, who is even more alone and vulnerable than he is.

Themes: caring for nature, father/son relationship, neglect, grief

Content Advisory: There are scenes depicting a father hitting his son.

Rating: PG (Violence)

Recommended for ages 12 to adult

Awards:
Best First Feature award at the 2012 Berlin Film Festival
Selected as the Dutch entry for the Best Foreign Language Oscar at the 85th Academy Awards.
European Film Award Young Audience Award
European Film Discovery Award - Prix Fipresci

If only Moon Man knew just how much children loved him. But he's not even remotely aware, he's just sitting on the moon, bored stiff, in his lonely silver sphere. One night, a shooting star appears, whizzing through outer space towards the moon. Moon Man seizes his chance, grabs the speeding comet by the tail, and hitches a ride to earth. Earth's arrogant president regards this as "an attack from outer space." He is absolutely furious. He has only just conquered the last speck of earth, and defeated all his enemies. Now aliens from another planet are attacking his dominion. The only traces they find of the intruder are silvery footprints near the edge of the crater’s impact. Meanwhile, the world's children are unable to sleep without seeing the Moon Man in the night sky, leading him to seek help from a kindly scientist who lives in a castle by the sea full of charming Rube Goldberg-like devices. While escaping the president and his soldiers, Moon Man sets off on a long journey, where he marvels at the many wonders the earth has to offer and realizes how much children love and need him.

In Lesotho everybody is either infected with or affected by AIDS. This thoughtful documentary reveals a generation of young Africans determined to dream and to be free of the stigmas and disease. Lesotho is not a country begging to be saved, but a country determined to change its own situation. First time Director, Abid Virani follows the friendships developed by young Canadians and Basotho youth.

This brilliant first feature from Dominga Sotomayor represents a cinematic rarity: a road movie told from the vantage point of the backseat. On a four-day family car trip, young Lucía (the phenomenal Santi Ahumada) finds the monotony of the passing landscape counter-pointed by the rapidly changing relationship between her parents. While her younger brother remains blissfully unaware of the awkward silences, she’s keenly attuned to the tension in the air. Consequently, this supposed vacation offers few moments of youthful abandon. Even when allowed to ride atop the car, she can’t keep from glancing through the windshield and seeing her parents’ marriage unravelling a little more.

Themes: independence, freedom, security, family relationships, coming of age

Set in 1941 during World War II in the Ukraine, the young and highly talented violinist Abrascha Kaplan and the no less gifted pianist Larissa Brodsky are celebrated as child prodigies of classical music. They play in all of Russia's great concert halls - before the party elite and even Stalin himself. Hanna, daughter of the German brewer Max Reich, is herself a talented violinist and wishes for nothing more than to be taught with the Russian "Wunderkinder." Larissa and Abrascha are reluctant to accept the German girl until their teacher Irina Salmonova consents to teach Hanna - and a close friendship develop between the children. But when Hitler unexpectedly invades Russia, their friendship is put to a hard test.